Reshmi 's memoirs jotted as events- to be refreshed by the writer if required

The past few weeks have been telling on my nerves and body. First I would like to target  the weather. Cold/winter/grey skies have never been appreciated by me except in poems/paintings. An unexpected indisposition at home set the ball rolling which apparently affected near and dear. This ‘indisposition’ silently endured by my husband (the victim) for over a month. To begin the ordeal  of putting it in words ,one needs strong nerves to bear cultural shocks but when the year begins with  a physical shock (accident  mentioned above) the following shocks are not borne by a debilitating body. One learns from the laws of nature when one leaf falls it gives way for a new leaf. This new leaf appears after the rough weather . But that does not augur well for the other aging leaves. All will fall one by one sooner or later. Marriage by night The marriage of a friend’s daughter in all splendor was an honour to attend and participate. But the more amazing part of...

The festive seasons are the special slots in one's lifetime that stay memorable because they beckon people to mix with their loved ones and the habit grows with you. It should be nipped in the bud. Some call it socializing or 'we still think of you'....on festive occasions.... though you are 'khadoos' (horrible). One such person I can think of is Rama Lakshmi,  a devoted daughter of a bureaucrat who longed to stay away from her parents on weekends was a festive occasion for her. What a frightful suggestion from a young lady and spinster. That's ok. She was sprightly, witty, could dance and sing like all youngsters. Promptly on Mondays she will tell you what she did or how revelling the weekend was, no revealing. Begins with no blushing..." Oh you know Bharat ?" the names of her male friends - their eating  and drinking habits will make you admire a walking encyclopaedia. Nothing comes out of it but she is munching your grilled sandwich...piling on y...

The sugar bowl when left exposed on the kitchen table only invites more ants and flies. Both being individually despicable (ants & flies) as a species, why blame the sugar? One hardworking the other an opportunist but Sugar as usual laidback and melting itself for attention from some do-gooder. Cuba of the Antilles Speaking of sugar, only one country comes to mind –Cuba- the sugar bowl of the world. Won’t you spare a thought  for its erstwhile President, who ruled the country for nearly half a century (1959 to 2006) ? Fidel Castro? The country  is also known for its cigars which lured many distinct personalities. They let the cigars ‘waltz’ on their lips till the smoke blurred images and thoughts got clearer. Tobacco may block the lungs but clears the brain so people say, no personal experience. Cigars also adorned the silver screen for heroes and villains. Alas! Two big villains still waltz on the largest island of the Antilles even today. Russia in the pa...

Discrepancies in society occur due to the names and the food we eat but these are thrust on us as embellishments, to project our physical selves as ideal packages. My sister and I have more differences than similarities despite the concerted efforts of our parents to present us to the world as similar looking sisters. We were(are) different in mentality. Although there is a difference of 29 months between us by birth, we dare not look similar under any circumstances especially out of school because to school we had to be in uniform. C.E.M Joad puts it 'Uniformity is a danger' but my uniform means the garment to be worn at school. May be this rebellious feeling dawned in my sister’s mind first because to be out of uniform was a tremendous relief. Whenever mother shopped for fabrics to stitch clothes for us they were always similar. Later when the tailor took down measurements between us asking for the designs or patterns , you could see my sister(being elder to me) making ey...

To be nameless is not to be shameful. So what, a rose does not cease being a ‘rose’ if called by another name. So said the Bard “ A rose by any other name   would smell as sweet" is a frequently referenced part of William   Shakespeare 's play Romeo and Juliet, in which Juliet seems to argue that it does not matter that Romeo is from her rival's house of Montague, that is, that he is named "Montague." In most of my blogs, my characters are either nameless or have fictitious names. The flesh, bones and blood inset in them makes them remarkable. Who knows, one day I may talk about myself with a fictitious (fictional?) name, no, not a pen name. Huh! I know they will not spend a ‘penny’ to sue me. Hereafter, even when these characters (named) flow down my pen, I will not spare them my frank outbursts in a stingy way – a word, a line (140 characters), a paragraph or a page. So beware. At times, I can be panegyric. The human race began with Manu, Adam or a ‘t...

Avarice, indulgence or habitual fascination can run alongside a track that initially appears to be a trend. This trend grows to a phenomenal proportion that anybody withdrawing from it is MAD. This is apparent in a luminary, could be a tycoon, a porn artist, a singer, a musician or anybody who has appealed to your eyes or ears. At times this fascination can be attractive to the sense of palate or touch. We, as humans, do not revel in tickling our senses. Basically it is a swing / hop / leap from one fascination to the other. Knock Knock “your social duty” My ‘virtual’ interest in drawing a virtual audience is not for soul-searching but just slapping the reader to tell him who he is or where he is. Basic preoccupation aside, the youth today prefer to chat about ‘trending’ matters to measure how many ears he can prick (pick). The chat prolongs to cover most consumer products from shoe laces to hats. Misleading Ads Sometimes the chat meanders to pick human pre...

Om Sri Ganeshaya Namaha.  A great start to my new blog .A baby step to define Avadhani. An Avadhani is a scholar in subjects like grammar , prosody , multi-tasking skills......who faces an oral test (special to Telugu Litt). This test analyses his memory power, his prosaic rendition, his ability in multitasking based on his knowledge of  the religious scripts.Of course the story mentioned below has no link to the real Avadhani except nomenclature. Avadhani, in the story by Tilak is skilled at speech...whatever it was; he was expressing softly, smoothly, solemnly, blending it all with special pity and tenderness. Avadhani ....a manipulative man ( Before speaking about the man let me tell you how this character has grown in my mind though it was created by another Indian writer) He said," With fruit, flower,leaf or even water"--ancestors said - God is easy to please.Then why ask for cash donation". To build faith one needs a temple, to secure the temple on...